Stagecoach joins CIRAS to enhance health and safety reporting

Transport company Stagecoach has become a member of CIRAS to enhance health and safety reporting within the business.

The partnership is part of Stagecoach’s key focus on safety, wellbeing and people development and will deliver an additional reporting channel for the company’s UK Bus staff to raise any issues they are concerned about.

CIRAS enables Stagecoach employees to raise health, wellbeing and safety concerns whilst protecting their identity, where they feel they can’t use internal reporting channels or have tried without success. The confidential reporting service is already used at Stagecoach London.

The three-year agreement will see the service embedded alongside existing internal reporting arrangements. These include Stagecoach’s own Speaking Up policy, health and safety representatives across the company’s bus division and a new process for the reporting of near misses which is being trialled.

Sharon Vye-Parminter, Stagecoach Health, Safety and Environment Director, said:

“We have a strong focus on our people, the way we operate, the needs of our customers and how to continually improve our safety culture for the future. Having this additional reporting system, which allows employees to confidentially raise any safety concerns they might have, is a valuable addition to our processes and will further enhance our safety procedures.”

CIRAS Membership Manager Kerry Dolan said:

“ We are delighted to welcome Stagecoach to CIRAS. We are ready to listen to concerns if staff feel unable to use internal reporting channels. If a concern is raised, we will help facilitate a resolution, whilst keeping the reporter in the loop so they know what action has been taken.

Reports raised confidentially can overcome perceptions of fear or lost confidence in internal systems, helping companies to improve safety culture.”

Stagecoach is now part of the 1800+ strong CIRAS member community, working together to improve safety culture by learning from CIRAS reports and each other.”

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For media enquiries please contact Stagecoach Communications by calling 01738 442111 or emailing media@stagecoachgroup.com

About CIRAS
• Confidential Incident Reporting and Analysis Service (CIRAS)
• CIRAS is an independent, not-for-profit member organisation which offers a confidential health and safety reporting service to its members’ staff.
• CIRAS is a wholly owned subsidiary of RSSB. See www.rssb.co.uk. We are entirely funded by member fees.
• CIRAS now has 1800+ members across the UK.
• Members include passenger and freight rail operators, bus operators, light rail/tram operators, infrastructure managers including Network Rail and TfL, and contractors who build and maintain transport infrastructure.
• TfL’s bus franchises have been part of the CIRAS community since 2016.
• All reports to CIRAS are treated in strictest confidence. We have not had a breach of confidentiality in our 22-year history.
• Concerns can be reported: on 0800 4 101 101; by completing an online form at www.ciras.org; by writing to us at Freepost CIRAS; or texting 07507 285 887.
• CIRAS speaks to the reporter and writes up a summary of their concern, which will be sent to Stagecoach to investigate. Stagecoach will then then send its response to CIRAS, who send it back to the reporter.
• To find out more about CIRAS or to become a member, call Kerry Dolan at 020 3142 5372 or email kerry.dolan@ciras.org.uk